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1 EXT. RANDOM LOS ANGELES ALLEY - NIGHT
Angel rushes to the rescue of a young blonde woman in a dark alley being attacked
by a vampire. The vampire falls to the ground again. Angel pulls a stake out
of his belt, twirls it like an old gunfighter might, and lunges it dramatically
into the vampire's chest. The vampire disappears in a cloud of smoke.

GIRL
(to Angel)
Who are you?

Cars screech. A group of armed men dressed completely in black gather
suddenly at the end of the alley, pointing guns in Angel's direction. Several
cars pull up to the end of the alley, all with their headlights pointing
at Angel. Several people get out and walk toward him. Angel seems confused.

NOTARY
(holding a contract, speaks to the girl)
This is to confirm that you have been rescued by Angel, C.E.O. and President
of Wolfram & Hart...

GIRL
(to Angel) You run a law firm?

ANGEL
(innocently) Well, just lately.

Angel looks around at the array of dozens of people in utter disbelief.

Cut to:

2 INT. LOBBY OF WOLFRAM & HART - DAY
Wesley walks up to the elevators from the lobby, holding a coffee mug, as
Fred steps off the elevator carrying a box of her belongings.

WESLEY
Why on earth are we here?

FRED
What? Because we're crusaders against evil and now the law firm that
represents most of the evil in the world has given us its L.A. Branch
to run however we want?

Angel starts walking across the lobby, flanked by Gunn and Wesley.

ANGEL
(buttons his jacket)
We're turning this place inside out.

The focus moves to Lorne, who's walking through the lobby, talking on
a cell phone, accompanied by a man holding three binders.

3 INT. ANGEL'S OFFICE - DAY
Angel is going through papers on his desk. Angel's secretary brings him a
mug and places it on his desk in front of him.

ANGEL
(sips from his mug, then looks up at his secretary)
Harmony.

HARMONY
Hey! Boss.

ANGEL
You're my secretary?

Cut to:

4 INT. LOBBY OF WOLFRAM & HART - DAY
Fred's talking to Wesley.

FRED
Have you seen my lab? It's giganamous. And I'm in charge.

Cut to:

5 INT. GUNN'S OFFICE - NIGHT
Gunn walks back to his office to grab his jacket. Someone speaks to him from
the corner.

EVE
I'm just wondering if you're ready for the next step.

GUNN
You don't know me or you wouldn't ask that question.

Eve hands Gunn a business card.

Cut to:

6 INT. DOCTOR'S OFFICE - DAY
Tubes are attached to Gunn's head via some contraption from the strange doctor's
office. Gunn's grunting and gasping and breathing hard.

Cut to:

7 INT. COURTHOUSE - DAY
Someone in a fancy suit and expensive shoes walks through the lobby carrying
an alligator-hide briefcase. As he enters the room, pan up to show it's Gunn
in a pin-striped suit with a silk tie, all decked out.

EVE (V.O.)
Charles agreed to let us enhance his mind with a comprehensive knowledge
of the law.

Cut to:

8 INT. ANGEL'S OFFICE - DAY
Angel is talking to the gang in his office.

ANGEL
(rubbing his chin)
Yes, we are. We're gonna change things. We came to Wolfram and Hart
because it's a powerful weapon.
(picks up the envelope from his desk, rips open the envelope)
We'll deal...
(an amulet falls out of the envelope)
with whatever comes next.

Immediately, the amulet activates. A black whirlwind erupts from it,
causing papers on Angel's desk to stir. The ashen whirlwind starts to glow
with flecks of orange as something begins to materialize inside it. A man's
skeletal form shows, then it gradually fills out until it's complete. The
wind fades and Spike is standing there, screaming and grunting, in the middle
of the office, right where the amulet fell.

Buffy and Spike are the only ones left in the hellmouth. Spike is still
glowing from the amulet, sending rays of light out into the hellmouth, dusting
the prehistoric vampires within. Buffy stands in front of him, staring, still
holding her scythe.

SPIKE
Go on, then.

BUFFY
No. No, you've done enough. You could still

SPIKE
No, you've beat them back. It's for me to do the cleanup.

The walls are crumbling around them.

BUFFY
(worried)
Spike!

SPIKE
I mean it! I gotta do this.
(holds out his hand to stop her)

Buffy laces her fingers through Spike's.

SPIKE
(another earthquake; Buffy lets go of his hand)
Now go!
(Buffy runs up the stairs)
I wanna see how it ends.

Spike stands in the crumbling hellmouth with light shining down on him
from above, grinning from ear to ear and laughing as he burns up from the
sunlight. He dusts slowlyfirst his skin singes, then his muscles,
then his bonesthen he's gone. The hellmouth crumbles in around him.

Cut to:

10 INT. ANGEL'S OFFICE - DAY
Spike doubles over in pain, gasping, as he materializes in Angel's office
at Wolfram & Hart. He looks around him, panic-stricken, at the unfamiliar
faces. He sees Harmony, Lorne, Fred, Wesley.

SPIKE
(confused)
What...what...

HARMONY
(hands on her hips)
What the hell are you doing here, Spike?

WESLEY
Harmony, please.

GUNN
(sneering)
This is Spike? The Spike?

FRED
Wait a minute. Who's

LORNE
(calmly, to Spike)
Easy, slim. Easy. No one's gonna hurt you.

GUNN
Speak for yourself, green jeans.

FRED
OK, would somebody please tell me who

WESLEY
William the Bloody. He's a vampire. One of the worst recorded. Second
only to

ANGEL
Me.
(an angry Spike turns to face Angel)
But you're dead.

HARMONY
(gesturing widely, rolling her eyes knowingly)
Well, yeah. Who here isn't?
(looks around)
Besides him (to Wes) and him (to Gunn) and her (to Fred) and...
(to Lorne) What are you again?

Spike, still staring at Angel, transforms into vampire facade and lunges
angrily at Angel, snarling fiercely. Angel braces for impact, but Spike
goes right through him. Spike stops, turns around, looks down at his bodyhis
legs have disappeared inside Angel's desk.

SPIKE
(looks up and frowns)
Bugger.

Fade to black.

Opening credits.

ACT I:

11 INT. ANGEL'S OFFICE - DAY
Resume. The gang has just discovered Spike's not corporeal.

SPIKE
(looks down at his body in the desk)
What? What's happened to me?

HARMONY
Well, I'm no doctor, but I think you're a ghost.

SPIKE
(points at her)
I'm noI'm no bloody ghost.

HARMONY
Hey, you're the one sticking out of a desk, pal.
(angrily)
And you can't talk to me like that. We're not going out anymore.

GUNN
Where'd he come from?

WESLEY
(picks up the amulet from the floor)
From this.

FRED
What is it?

ANGEL
Something I gave to Buffy before

SPIKE
Buffy! Is she

ANGEL
She's OK.

SPIKE
Wherewhere is she?

ANGEL
Europe, last I heard from her.

SPIKE
Wanna see her... Wanna talk to her.

ANGEL
That's gonna be tough.

SPIKE
(scoffs)
You can't keep her from me.

ANGEL
She's not mine to keep... or yours.

SPIKE
Says you. You got no idea what we had.

ANGEL
You never had her.

SPIKE
(in Angel's face)
More than you, you poncy

HARMONY
Oh...my...God! You and the slayer actually... I mean, I know you had
that twisted obsession with her, but...yecch. That's just... yecch.
(walks away, stops)
I... yecch!
(leaves)

SPIKE
I must be in hell.

LORNE
Uh, no. L.A., but a lot of people make that mistake.

FRED
(to Wes and Gunn)
So Spike and Buffy are

WESLEY
He was, um, an ally of hers for some time, at least that's what Angel
told me. That's all Angel told me.

GUNN
So he's a good-guy vampire like Angel?

ANGEL
He's nothing like me.

SPIKE
Got that right. What have you done to me?
(looks around the office)
What is this place?!
(to Fred, Gunn and Wes) Who are you people? What the bloody hell is
happening?!

Cut to:

12 INT. SCIENCE LAB - DAY
The gang has moved on to the science lab. Wesley is looking into a microscope
while Fred scans Spike with a beeping instrument.

LORNE
(to Wes) Honey of a story.

WESLEY
Story?

LORNE
Yeah, the vampire slayer both men loved, both men lost. Oh, I could
sell that to any studio in a heartbeat. I see Depp and Bloom. But then
I see them a lot. Sorry. Hazard of running the entertainment division.
Gotta get out more.

FRED
Ectoplasm's what makes ghosts visible to the human eye. If he's a ghost,
technically we shouldn't be able to see him.
(writes in the folder)
And I'm detecting brainwave activity.

ANGEL
On Spike?
(chuckles)
That is weird.

FRED
Also, ghosts generally absorb light and heat energy making the area
around them a few degrees cooler. Spike's radiating heat.

SPIKE
(smirks)
Think I'm hot, do you?

FRED
Mm...lukewarm. Just above room temperature.

SPIKE
Well, what the hell am I then?

WESLEY
Whatever he is, it's clearly tied to this amulet. Spike's essence, for
lack of a better term, must have been held within it.
(to Spike) Do you have any memory of a strange sensation when it released
its energy?

SPIKE
What? You mean my skin and muscle burning away from the bone? Organs
exploding in my chest? Eyeballs melting in their sockets? No. No memory
at all. Thanks for asking.

ANGEL
OK, he's connected to the amulet. Last I heard it was buried deep inside
of the hellmouth. How did it end up here?

FRED
Maybe he's here for a reason. You know, some higher purpose or something
he's destined for. Sent to us by the powers that be to help us or

SPIKE
Who gave them the bloody right to do that?
(scoffs, paces)
Can't a man die in peace without some high almighty deciding it's not
his time. Let's have a little more fun with him, eh? You think that
saving the sodding world would be enough to earn me a rest. You'd think

Spike starts to fade before their eyes.

FRED
Spike?

SPIKE
Hmm?
(looks at his body)
Oh, balls.
(disappears)

Fred goes over to scan where Spike was standing.

GUNN
Now what?

FRED
I don't know. He just...
(looks at Angel) What did he mean, "saving the world"?

ANGEL
Oh, thatwellBuffy did most of the work. Well, he helped,
but

SPIKE
(rematerializes)
Hmm? What? What?

LORNE
Took the "what's" right out of our mouths.

GUNN
Where'd you go?

FRED
Don't you know?

SPIKE
I'mI was...
(to Angel) You! This is your fault.

ANGEL
Mine?

SPIKE
You brought that bloody amulet to Sunnydale. You would have been the
one to use it, until you
chickened out.

ANGEL
What did you

SPIKE
(incensed)
You heard me! You left town in the nick of time, didn't you, before
the death and mayhem? Abandoned the woman you claimed to love.

ANGEL
She made the call. Wasn't my choice.

SPIKE
And this, bloody hell, wasn't mine. I'm not you. I don't give a piss
about atonement or destiny. Just because I got me a soul doesn't mean
I'm gonna let myself be led around by

FRED
E-excuse me?

WESLEY
Diddid you just say Spike has a soul?
(to Angel) You never said.

ANGEL
Didn't seem worth mentioning, you know.

GUNN
(frowns)
Seems to be a lot of that.

SPIKE
Or maybe Captain Forehead was feeling a little less special. Didn't
like me crashing his exclusive clubanother vampire with a soul
in the world.

SPIKE
Running away again.
(Angel rolls his eyes and continues walking)
Nice new M.O. I can see why heroes like you get rewarded with the shiny
new glass and chrome. Why didn't I think of that?

ANGEL
I'm not responsible for what happened to you.
(walks past Harmony's desk)

HARMONY
Angel, it's almost three o'clock. You have a meeting scheduled

ANGEL
Not now, Harmony.

SPIKE
And here you've even managed to get my ex-tumble, the littlest vampire,
fetching coffee for you. Nice perks for the sell-out.

ANGEL
Little tip, Spike: Try not to talk about things you don't understand.

SPIKE
I'm not the prat here. I know you, Angel. What do you think you're doing?
Made some devil's bargain to take over this company. Thought you'd use
it to fight the evil of the world from inside the belly of the beast.
Trouble is you're too busy fighting to see you and yours are getting
digested.

ANGEL
(stops in front of the elevators)
Not gonna happen.

SPIKE
Oh, you think you're in control here? Guess again, mate. You're no more
in control than I am. Except I'm not gonna bloody stand for it, while
you're just a blind...
(looks over Angel's shoulder)
Grox'lar Beast.

ANGEL
What?

Angel turns to see the Grox'lar Beast has just stepped out of the elevators
behind him. Angel throws a punch at the demon, but the demon punches him
back, knocking him down. Spike throws a punch at the demon's head, but his
fist goes right through without making an impact.

SPIKE
Oh, brilliant.

The demon goes toward Angel, and they continue fighting hand-to-hand.
Angel finally overpowers the demon, throwing him against the wall, and knocking
him out.

ANGEL
Somebody want to tell me how a Grox'lar Beast got past security? I don't
have time for this.

HARMONY
Just their heads. You were supposed to open negotiations with his clan.

ANGEL
Negotiations for what?

GUNN
(walks up to the scene)
Get 'em to stop eating baby heads.

ANGEL
Oh. So that's good. Oh, so thisthis is bad.

GUNN
No, actually the Grox'lar clan respects someone who takes a strong opening
position. Wolfram & Hart didn't just jack me up here with the human
laws, also demon laws from every dimension. Probably should have been
briefed you about the Grox'lar, but we got a little...
(looks at Spike)
sidetracked. Plus I've been implementing our reforms. Mostly staff overhaul.
I've fired 40 employees in the past 2 days.

HARMONY
(to Spike) Listen, I know I was a little crabby before. I mean, hello?!
A little awkward seeing you at my work. But if you want to talk or something,
you know, about us or...
(Spike walks away without acknowledging her)
OK. Too soon. I understand...
(under her breath) Slayer-loving freak.

Cut to:

14 INT. GUNNS OFFICE - DAY
Angel and Gunn are talking in his office.

GUNN
Caught an associate we laid off trying to smuggle this out of the voodoo
division.

Gunn holds up a voodoo doll that has black skin and is wearing a suit
just like Gunn's.

ANGEL
(takes the doll)
It's a nice likeness.

SPIKE
(walks up to the door)
This place just goes on and on, doesn't it? Like a ruddy theme park
attraction.

ANGEL
I'm in a meeting, Spike.

SPIKE
Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't care.

GUNN
Look, we're ruffling a lot of dangerous feathers out there. There's
gonna be a backlash. Count on it.

ANGEL
Well, we'll just have to ride out the ripples for a while.

GUNN
(looks at the door)
I'm sensing a ripple on its way now.

A man wearing a loud blue dress shirt and a spotted yellow tie walks
in the room.

NOVAC
Yes, uh...Novac, sir. Uh, what's this about you shutting down the Internment
Acquisitions Division?

ANGEL
(to Gunn) Internment Acqui

GUNN
Grave-robbing.

NOVAC
Listen, I know you fellas are in charge now, and you're doing a bang-up
job. I'm with you 110%, but that department brings in mucho revenue
to this company.

ANGEL
Well, Novac, we'll just have to tighten our belts and do without.

NOVAC
No, you're not getting it... sir. I.A.D. is under contract to provide
fresh bodies to Magnus Hainsley. You know who he is, right?
(Angel looks at Gunn)
Oy. OK. He's one of our oldest clients. Big potatoes. We stop delivering,
and he is not gonna be... thrilled.

ANGEL
Then he's probably not gonna like it when you advise him that he's no
longer our client.

ANGEL
Hainsley that Wolfram & Hart is under new management and out of
the grave-robbing business. Now, run along and go argue your case.

NOVAC
(unsure)
Me?

ANGEL
Go.

Novac walks toward the door, shuddering at the thought of his assignment,
when Spike addresses him.

SPIKE
You don't have to take that from him, mate.

ANGEL
Stay out of this, Spike. You don't work here.

SPIKE
Damn right I don't. Look at you. This is what you do now? Delegate the
dirty work to spineless, low-level flunkies.
(to Novac) No offense.
(Angel walks back toward Gunn)
The mighty hero reduced to a bloody bureaucrat. If a certain slayer
could see you now

ANGEL
Get out of here, Spike.

SPIKE
Gladly. Cruel enough punishment being stuck here as a spook while you
play "Chairman of the Boring." But hell if I'm gonna spend
my afterlife in your stinking city. Get stuffed.

Cut to:

15 INT. ANGEL'S OFFICE - NIGHT
Angel's sitting alone in his office staring out the window, when Wesley walks
up to the door. Wes starts to walk away, when Angel speaks to him.

ANGEL
You don't think he's really gone, do you?

WESLEY
That what's on your mind?

ANGEL
(stands, walks to sit behind his desk)
Could have been me, Wes. Was supposed to be me.

WESLEY
You're not feeling guilty?

ANGEL
About Spike?
(chuckles)
He's notthat's notthat's not
(sighs)
Wolfram & Hart gave me the amulet. They must have expected me to
use it. And they had to have known it would've done to me what it did
to Spike, so

WESLEY
Why bother handing you the keys to the kingdom?
(sits)

ANGEL
Doesn't make sense. What are the senior partners playing at?

WESLEY
Maybe there's dissent in their ranks, or maybe there's another player
in the game theyand we don't know anything about. Then again,
maybe they got exactly what they were after.

ANGEL
Spike.

WESLEY
He may be the one they

ANGEL
What are you doing here? I thought you left town.

SPIKE
(standing in the doorway)
Don't think I didn't bleeding try. Every time I got as far as the city
limits I kept popping back here like my insides are getting yanked.

WESLEY
Hmm. I suspected as much. The amulet's Wolfram & Hart's property.
It's bound to this place, and since Spike's connected to it...

ANGEL
Harmony, get me Novac's contact list, close relations, next of kin,
and let's be discreet about this for the time being, OK?

HARMONY
Discreet? Oh, you mean like not tell anyone about bucket-o-lawyer.

ANGEL
Harmony, contact list.

GUNN
(walks off the elevator, hands a file to Angel)
Hey, got word you wanted the file on Magnus Hainsley. Dig this. He's
a sorcerer, big time. Rich with old money and older mojo. Owns a respectable
block of shares in Wolfram & Hart and he's connected up the wazoo.
Carries influence with power players in the entertainment industry,
politics

ANGEL
(flipping through the file)
He's a necromancer.

WESLEY
Power over the dead. That explains the bodies Wolfram & Hart's been
providing him.

17 INT. ANGEL'S OFFICE - NIGHT
Angel walks into his office, followed by Wesley and Gunn.

ANGEL
But not what he's been doing with them.
(to Spike) Out of my chair.

SPIKE
This haunting-you-till- the-end-of-time idea of yours is starting to
sound appealing. I could drive you completely starkers, right out of
your gourd. Yeah, and you wouldn't be able to do a sodding thing about
it.
(Angel slams the door and walks over to the next car, a silver Camaro)
(Spike is sitting inside the car in the passenger seat; Angel groans)
Fancy a road trip. This'll be fun, eh? You and me together again. So...where
are we off to?

BUTLER
Mr. Hainsley is with a customer at the moment. I'm afraid he does not
suffer interruption lightly.

ANGEL
Not so worried about his suffering. Go ahead and interrupt.

BUTLER
As you wish. Please wait here, gentlemen.
(exits)

SPIKE
Oh, life among the power elite. It's all so civilized. Hainsley grinds
up one of your people into chum, and you drop by for tea.

ANGEL
I'm hoping to avoid a body count here.

SPIKE
(looks off into the other room) No worries. Looks like this Hainsley
keeps one on hand.

Cut to:

20 INT. HAINSLEY'S LIVING ROOM - NIGHT
Spike walks into the adjacent room. Angel follows. The room is decorated like
a Victorian parlor, complete with a few dozen people standing around posed,
as if it were a wax museum.

SPIKE
(scoffs)
Man likes to play with dollies.

ANGEL
This isn't for him. It's a showroom.

Cut to:

21 INT. HAINSLEY'S WORKSHOP - NIGHT
A woman is lying on a table in the center of a red pentagram that's painted
on the floor. A middle-aged man stand over her chanting eerily, while a demon
speaks from the shadows behind them.

DEMON
(casually)
I thought about going older with it. I don't know, more distinguished,
kind of a 50-something Shirley Temple Black with it. You know, that
ultra-respectable ambassador to somewhere feel. But in the end I...
I went with pretty. I suppose we all do, in the end, don't we? You know,
in the end. Pretty people just seem to have it so much
(the man sticks his hand in the woman's belly)
Oh. Whoa. There's something you don't see every, uh
(the man reaches a hand back toward the demon)
Augh! Mmm!
(the man's hand glows orange as the demon's essence flows into the man's
body through one hand, and out through the other, going into the woman)
OK, yeah, that's feelin' a little weird.

BUTLER
Excuse the interruption, sir. There are some more men from Wolfram &
Hart asking to see you. They seem rather adamant.

HAINSLEY
Kill them.

BUTLER
Very good, sir.
(exits)

Cut to:

22 INT. HAINSLEY'S LIVING ROOM - NIGHT
Angel and Spike walk around among the posed people in the parlor.

SPIKE
I don't know. Maybe the geezer's just lonely. Throws himself a surprise
party every night. Picks out one of these painted pigeons and shows
her a good time, if you know what I mean. What? I'm sure they don't
mind.

ANGEL
Yeah, I mind.

SPIKE
Why? They're the lucky ones, aren't they? It's over for them. They've
shuffled off, cleanly, the one time. Nobody's shoving them back into
the stinking world against their will.

ANGEL
(angrily)
I mind.

BUTLER
(enters the room)
Mr. Hainsley has asked that I send you back to Wolfram & Hart, gentlemen.
(reveals that he's holding butcher knives behind his back)
In a manner of speaking.

The butler plays menacingly with the knives trying to intimidate Angel
and Spike.

SPIKE
Uh-oh. Looks like it's buckets for you.

Angel reaches for a tiny teaspoon being held by a posed person beside
him. He throws the spoon at the butler, and it lands in his forehead. The
butler screams.

ANGEL
I know you can't help me, but could you maybe not root for the other
team?

SPIKE
Hey, I'll root for anyone with half a chance of taking you down a notch.

ANGEL
What is your problem?

SPIKE
(walks up to Angel)
You are, ya ponce! You're my problem. You got it too good.
(Angel walks away, Spike follows)
You're king of a 30-floor castle, with all the cars, comfort, power,
and glory you could ever want, and here I save the world, throw myself
onto the proverbial hand grenade for love, honor, and all the right
reasons, and what do I get? Bloody well toasted and ghosted is what
I get, isn't it? It's not fair.

ANGEL
(stops, turns to Spike angrily)
Fair?! You asked for a soul. I didn't! It almost killed me. I spent
a hundred years trying to come to terms with infinite remorse. You spent
3 weeks moaning in a basement, and then you were fine! What's fair about
that?!

ANGEL
I'm cutting off your supply, Hainsley. As of now your body shop is
(with a flick of his wrist, Hainsley takes control of Angel's body,
freezing him in place)
Aah!

HAINSLEY
Who do you think you're talking to?
(turns his hand, causing Angel pain; Angel groans; Hainsley pulls Angel
toward him)
I eat the dead for breakfast, son. And you're just another plate o'
bacon and eggs.
(Spike shows up behind Angel)
A ghost, huh? You brought a ghost as your backup, vampire?

SPIKE
I'm not here to back him up. I just haunt the bastard.

ANGEL
Stay out of this.

SPIKE
Oh, stick itfar as it'll go. You go ahead, wiz. Do what you want.

HAINSLEY
What I want is to turn you inside out, like a shirt. I could dust you
right now, boy. Wouldn't even need a stake.
(lets go of Angel, who grunts from the pain he was in)
But that would be too big an insult for the senior partners to overlook.
Seems that they've got plans for you

ANGEL
I just froze all your bank accounts, terminated your paper assets, and
turned your books over to a very motivated contact we have at the I.R.S.
5 minutes from now, you'll have nothing but this house. 10 minutes from
now, that'll go into foreclosure.

HAINSLEY
(frowns) You can't do that.

ANGEL
I'll let myself out.

HAINSLEY
It's not legal. You think you can get away with that?
(scornful chuckling)
I'll sue you to hell.

SPIKE
That's how you're gonna fight the forces of evil nowcall the I.R.S.?

ANGEL
Whatever it takes.

SPIKE
Hello, I.R.S.? Will you fight my battles for me? And while you're at
it, will you wipe my wide, spotty...
(disappears)

ANGEL
Oh, thank God.
(walks out of the house)

SPIKE
(reappears)
Ass?
(to Hainsley) You...

HAINSLEY
Power over the dead. But enough about me. Let's talk about you. You're
a ghost. Well, close enough, anyway. That's just a horrible way to be.
You're not here, you're not there, just lost, somewhere in the middle.
And you can't fight against it. You can't fix it. Hell, you can't even
lift a finger 'cause you simply don't have any.

SPIKE
Yeah. What's it to you?

HAINSLEY
I can give you back what's been taken from youfreedom, power of
choice. I can put your destiny back in your own flesh-and-bone hands.
That's right. A corporeal body. I can make that happen. But to do that,
I need you to do something for me. Something that might require...

SPIKE
(excited)
Hurt Angel, that it? You want me to hurt Angel?
(grins devilishly)
You've come to the right ghost.

ANGEL
Well, I think that, "this isn't over yet, vampire," may be
the tipoff. Look, guys, can we get back to my, uh, spiritual crisis?

WESLEY
Yes. Spike.

ANGEL
Popped out on me at Hainsley's place. But we all know that he'll be
back and back and back, and I really don't want that happening again,
so explain to me how we're gonna get him out of here.

FRED
He can't get out of here.

ANGEL
Please don't tell me that.

FRED
OK. Wesley...you tell him.

WESLEY
I've had my entire department doing thorough research on the amulet.
There's not much. Not in the way of releasing Spike from it, anyway.
At least not in the conventional sense.

ANGEL
And what's the unconventional sense?

WESLEY
Something he asked for. Eternal rest.

Cut to:

26 INT. LOBBY - NIGHT
Spike appears in the lobby, and walks by Harmony's desk on his way to Angel's
office.

HARMONY
(straightening her desk)
Fine. Don't talk to me.

SPIKE
What?

HARMONY
Whole time we were a thing, you treated me like day-old rat blood. Why
should now be any diff, just 'cause you've gone all Patrick Swayze?

SPIKE
What are you on about?

HARMONY
Well, gee, nothing much. Just since you're all soulful now, I thought
maybe, just maybe, you might've learned to open up a little. You know,
talk? But I guess the leopard can't change his stripes.

SPIKE
Spots, you dink. Leopards have spots.

HARMONY
Oh! Excuse me, Mr. Brainy. Thank you so much for sharing. Wow. What
a breakthrough.

WESLEY
I agree, but neither is leaving him here, trapped between realms, with
no control over his fate, not able to touch anything, affect anything.
Unable to fight. Letting him cross over seems the most merciful thing

ANGEL
Yeah, yeah, mercy. I'm all for it. Just, hey, tell me how we do it.

WESLEY
The amulet's protected, invulnerable to anything, but... the magic that's
protecting it doesn't work on hallowed ground.

GUNN
Hallowed. Like a church?

WESLEY
Or cemetery, yes. It has to be taken there and destroyed.

FRED
Destroyed how?

WESLEY
I think a sharp blow would probably do the trick.

GUNN
Angel, what do you think?

ANGEL
(sits back in his chair)
I think I want to sleep on it.

Fred places the amulet on Angel's desk. Wes, Gunn, and Fred leave.

Cut to:

28 INT. ANGEL'S BEDROOM - NIGHT
Angel walks into his apartment and gets ready for bed, climbing under the
blankets with a big sigh.

SPIKE
(from the shadows near Angel's windows)
Well, look at you.

ANGEL
Aw, no. No. No, no!

SPIKE
Sitting in luxury's ample lap. Top of the world. Looking down on...
well, everyone. It's good to be king, isn't it?

ANGEL
Ground rules. Haunt me all you want during business hours, but this
spaceoff limits.

SPIKE
Relax, beefcake. I didn't come for a fight.

ANGEL
Really?

SPIKE
Not that I could, right? Can't touch, can't affect anything... Yeah,
I overheard your little group powwow about me.

ANGEL
How much?

SPIKE
Enough of enough.

ANGEL
Look, Spike

SPIKE
Necromancer tried to make a deal with me.

ANGEL
What?

SPIKE
Said he could bring me backbody and soulif I used our close
personal relationship to double-cross you.

ANGEL
Tempting. So what'd you say?

SPIKE
You see, right there, that's the problem. You having to ask me that.
I don't play for that side anymore, or haven't you heard? Besides...
even if mr. Death could do what he promised, I trust him about as much
as you trust me.

ANGEL
What do you want from me?

SPIKE
I can't live like this, Angel. Being useless.
(sighs)
Being nothing. I want it to end.

ANGEL
(looks at the amulet he's holding)
Sure you want to do this, Spike?

SPIKE
(scoffs)
What, think I could really stand hanging out with you and your lot,
now and forever? Wisecracking ghost sidekick. No bloody thanks. Come
on. You know as well as I do, it's for the best.
(Angel picks up an urn from a nearby grave)
I'm glad it's you, though. Finally doin' me in. Feels right. You being
my grandsire and all. Circle of death, eh?

ANGEL
Good-bye, Spike.

SPIKE
See you around, Angel.

Angel picks up the urn and aims for crushing the amulet, but hits himself
in the head instead.

SPIKE
Uh, I think you missed.

Angel hits himself in the face again, and then is picked up off the
ground unable to move. Hainsley steps out of the shadows.

HAINSLEY
And the dead shall rise! Just 'cause I say so.

ANGEL
Hainsley

HAINSLEY
Vampire should think twice before messing with a man who wields power
over all things lifeless.
(drops Angel to the ground, knocking him out)
If you ask my advice.

SPIKE
Took your sweet time stepping in, Hainsley. I came this close to getting
a one-way to the great beyond.

ANGEL
Maybe not. But what do you think the senior partners are gonna do to
you when I turn up missing?

HAINSLEY
Oh, you're not going to be missing. You're going to show up to work
bright-eyed and bushy-tailed tomorrow morning, when you'll reverse the
seizure of my personal assets and reinstate the Internment Acquisitions
Department.

ANGEL
And why would I do that?

SPIKE
(steps out from the shadows)
Not you. Me. Wearing your body.

ANGEL
And to think I didn't trust you.

SPIKE
Come on, Angel. What choice did I have? Bloody exorcism? Letting you
and yours banish me to oblivion? No, thanks. Necro here's gonna give
me my body back... after I take yours for a test drive, fix his little
problems. And here's the kicker: I go in, and you go... pfft! Off to
never-never-come-back land. And then... yours very truly will be running
the show. Your cars, your fancy digs, everythingeveryoneI
deserve...will be mine.
(wistfully)
And maybe I'll have a go with that Fred. She looks like a goer, and
she seems to really look up to you.

HAINSLEY
(to the orange glow in his arm)
Unh! What? What...are you doing?

The orange glow goes back up Hainsley's arm and disappears into his
chest.

ANGEL
Spike...would you mind?

HAINSLEY
(pulls his hand out of Angel's body)
No! Noooo!

ANGEL
(stands up and faces off with Hainsley, kicking him across the room)
Can touch you now, Hainsley.

HAINSLEY
(controls Angel's body again, throwing him across the room)
Think you're clever, eh? Butunnnnh! Your ghost can't control
me for long. I hold the power. I rule the dead.
(reaches toward Angel, but can't control him anymore)

ANGEL
Not today.

Angel fights with Hainsley and ultimately pushes him into a nearby table,
knocking him down to the ground. Hainsley gets up again and engages Angel
in hand-to-hand combat again. Angel throws a blade at Hainsley, cutting
his head off. Hainsley's head falls to the ground, and Spike's head floats
above Hainsley's neck.

SPIKE
Oh, bollocks.
(Hainsley's body falls to the ground)
I was just getting warmed up.

ANGEL
That was you hitting me?

SPIKE
The last bit, yeah. Hainsley's been dead since he hit the table.
(Angel frowns)
Oh, come on. Had to get a few licks in, didn't I?

Cut to:

31 INT. LOBBY - DAY
Wesley and Angel are walking together through the lobby.

WESLEY
I see. So Spike came to you with this plan.

ANGEL
More or less. Once he learned Hainsley used himself as a conduit for
body transfers, our trap fell into place.

Harmony hands a file to Angel.

WESLEY
A bit reckless. Well, if Spike's going to be sticking around, it'd be
prudent of him to share his plans with the rest of us in future.

ANGEL
Yeah, well, sharing's not something Spike does very well.

HARMONY
Preaching to the horse's mouth.

Cut to:

32 INT. FRED'S OFFICE - DAY
Fred walks into her office in the Science Department. Spike is standing in
the doorway.

FRED
Spike. What are you...can I help you?

SPIKE
Well, that's the heart of it, isn't it? The crux. The nub.

FRED
I'm sorry?

SPIKE
You're the smart one, aren't you? The go-to girl who knows all about
this ghost mumbo-jumbo.

FRED
Um...
(laughs nervously)
Well, actually, Wesley's the occult expert. Hehe was trained as
a Watcher. He knows about the supernatur

SPIKE
Yeah, but you're the science queen. The hows, the what-ifsthat's
your cup of tea. You figure things out in that cute little noggin of
yours.

SPIKE
(faces away from Fred)
I know what's down therewhere it's trying to take meand
it's not the place heroes go. Not by a bloody long shot. It's the other
one. Full of fire and torment. And it's happening. And I'm terrified.
(faces Fred)
Help me?

Fade to black.

EPISODE INFORMATION:

Creator:

Joss Whedon
David Greenwalt

Producer:

Stephen S. DeKnight

Co-Producer:

Skip Schoolnik
James A. Contner

Consulting Producer:

David Greenwalt

Supervising Producer:

Ben Edlund

Co-Executive Producer:

David Fury
Jeffrey Bell

Executive Producers:

Joss Whedon

Sandy Gallin
Gail Berman
Fran Rubel Kuzui
Kaz Kuzui

Produced By:

Kelly A. Manners

Teleplay By:

David Fury
Ben Edlund

Story By:

David Fury

Directed By:

James A. Contner

Starring:

David Boreanaz as Angel
James Marsters as Spike
J. August Richards as Charles Gunn
Amy Acker as Winifred "Fred" Burkle
Andy Hallett as Lorne
and Alexis Denisof as Wesley Wyndham-Pryce